Personnel Services Committee

November 13, 2008

 

Members Present: In attendance were Kate Blackwell, JoAnn Credle, Sheri David, Lisa Donaldson, Charles Errico, Miguel Garcia, Nancy Gleeson, Marjorie Kinnaman, Frances McDonald, Sima Otsuka, Nan Peck, Jennifer Reynolds, Charles Scarborough, Barbara Tolley, Nancy Wyatt.  Jane Madden attended for Van Robertson.

 

Members Absent:  Myrtho Blanchard, Janet Bush, Ruby Holland, Jennifer Lerner, Matthew Niziol, Carol Sinwell, Wendy Unison-Pace.

Review and Approval of Minutes:  The minutes from the October 16, 2008, meeting were approved.

 

Chair’s Report: 

 

A.    President’s Sabbatical – Dr. Charlie Errico reported that the announcement for the President’s Sabbatical has gone out.  Applications are due by December 1.  Please encourage others to apply for this opportunity.  These applications will go through Patti Hill.  Ms. Nancy Wyatt reminded everyone that this committee worked hard for this opportunity to offer sabbaticals.  Last year we had 8-9 applicants and we gave out just 2 awards (possible 3). During our December 18 meeting, faculty will work on evaluating and selecting sabbatical winners.

 

B.     Classified Emeritus – Ms. Janet Bush asks for nominations for staff emeriti. Classified Staff will meet with Ms. Bush to discuss staff emeriti awards at our December 18 meeting.

 

C.      Holiday Proposal – The proposal to grant a two-day holiday on December 22-23 has been forwarded to the College Senate for their consideration next week.

 

Report of Budget Crisis Committee:  Subcommittees for the Senate Budget Crisis Committee are meeting with members of the Administrative Council.  Dr. Charlie Errico is representing the Personnel Services Committee and Ms. Nan Peck serves on this committee as well.  They offered an update on the work being done.  Dr. Templin will be visiting campuses for town meetings in early December.

 

Adjunct Pay:  HR and Payroll are looking at the feasibility of giving adjunct faculty more frequent pay.

 

NVCC Form 015-23 (Designation of Diversity):  The NVCC Form 015-23, Designation of Diversity, was discussed as several committee members expressed their discomfort following these guidelines as reporting bad/incorrect information is worse than reporting no information at all.  As a part of the hiring process, the supervisor/chair of the committee is being asked to identify the ethnicity and the gender of applicants even though we are not given this information and don’t solicit it in interviews.  All agreed that it is the law that we follow an affirmative action report.  Each institution follows internal policy.  HR assures that it is correctly following policy and procedures.  Others pointed out that HR has applicants’ self-reported ethnicity where they are asking interview committees/supervisors to guess at these.  Mr. Garcia agreed to continue to investigate this with HR.

Early Retirement Program:  The Early Retirement Program (ERP) was very popular but deemed unacceptable by the IRS.  The committee would like the College to explore similar but acceptable incentive programs for early retirement.  Enabling faculty to retire early will save the College on personnel costs.

 

Cost-Savings Ideas:  The committee explored cost-saving options we might consider, including:

1.      Voluntary leave without pay

2.      Cutting back on annual leave

3.      Stronger marketing for stronger return.  The Education Review in the Washington Post last week did not mention NOVA, for instance.

4.      Articulation agreements with senior institutions need to be strong and publicized.  More parents need to know that students who complete a degree at NOVA can go to GMU.

5.      Are many Maryland residents attending NOVA improperly claiming in-state residency and paying in-state tuition?

6.      Because our academic schedule is not in sync with K-12 schools, many parents aren’t able to take classes at NOVA.

7.      Second 8-week classes are very popular and more need to be offered to improve enrollment.  Some believe that we already have many offerings for the 2^nd session.

8.      Many students believe that they can wait to register for classes, and then get shut out when they are filled.  College orientation might address this?

9.      Use fewer consultants as their recommendations often hurt more than they help (e.g., changing from MWF schedule to MW has hurt our enrollments)

10.  Offer more continuing education courses for such needs are executioner of estates and funeral services.

11.  Revenue enhancers might include nuisance fees (charges for late registration, withdrawals and transcripts) and lab fees (computer and science)

12.  Revenue enhancers might also include bicycle and canoe rentals

13.  Pricing of a course is not tied to the quality of the course but rather to the time that it takes you to complete the course.  If you can complete a curriculum sooner, then you are willing to pay more money.

14.  Look for grant revenues (e.g., green engineering buildings).

 

Other New Business:  Lisa Donaldson proposed and Charlie Scarborough seconded a motion to allow NOVA faculty and staff to petition (on an annual basis) for their working contract to be changed from a 12-month contract to a 10-month contract.  This would require approval of a supervisor.

 

A discussion of the proposal included the assertion that some faculty are reluctant to accept a 12-month administrative position because they don’t want to move into a 12-month contract.  Some believe that a 10-month contract would compel more faculty to agree to serve as administrators if they had an option for a shorter contract.

 

This proposal was unanimously approved and will be forwarded to the College Senate and to the Administrative Council.

 

Adjournment:  The meeting was adjourned at 3:35 p.m.  The next meeting of the Personnel Services Committee is December 18^th.